


Pizza Cherry

by summerduchess



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: Fluff, Post QoN, family dinner at vivi and heather's, kinda OOC, taryn not present
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:28:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29912811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerduchess/pseuds/summerduchess
Summary: Cardan gets first degree burns from pizza.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Pizza Cherry

It was beautiful. A glistening circle of toasted dough, melty cheese, and a vibrant red sauce. Three boxes were set open on Vivi and Heather's dining table. Cheese, pepperoni, and something called 'Hawaiian'. Cardan's mouth couldn't stop watering at the feast set out before him.

Pizza. On his list of mortal delicacies to taste, this was number one. He had a hard time imagining it when Jude described it to him, but he doubted his mind could even conjure up the pure heaven that is... pizza. The smell, the texture, it's so different to the broad beans, toadstool hash, and beast roast served in Fairie.

Cardan's eyes were glued on Vivi, who was serving everyone pieces. He watched, fascinated, as each piece of the flatbread was separated from the circle. He was mesmerized by the cheese strings and couldn't wait to finally taste what it was like on his tongue. Jude chuckled beside him, nudging him out of his awe.

“Which flavor would you like to pop your pizza cherry? I’d go with plain cheese first,” Vivi tells him with that characteristic miscellaneous glimmer in her eye. 

Cardan nods and she handed him a flimsy serving platter made out of what appeared to be a thin yet sturdy parchment. Upon it sat one slice of cheese pizza.

Gingerly Cardan picked up the slice, unused to the lack of utensils and cutlery. As he brought the corner of the triangular, time seemed to slow down. He could see Jude and Heather watching him out of the corner of his eye as they bit into their own slices.

First there was crispy softness followed by a sweet tanginess..

Cardan's eyes fluttered shut.

Then there was the delightful sticky and soft oh so satisfying texture of the 'mozzarella cheese'.

Cardan's eyes flew back open.

Unfortunately it was all undercut by the painful sensation of his mouth burning.

Cardan spit back onto his plate sputtering and choking. His tongue felt like it was on fire and his cheeks felt scraped raw and sore.

"Cardan what's wrong," Jude asked, grabbing the plate from his grasp. "No one else took a bite of this pizza, it could be poisoned."

Vivi looked skeptical, and pointedly took another bite. 

“Mine tastes fine,” she said airly. “You both need to get out of Court more. All that scheming and constant backstabbing can’t be good for you.”

Heather thrust a glass of water into Cardan's hand and he gulped it down.

The cold water helped sooth the pain but he could still feel the after effects.

"What happened?" Jude asked as she rubbed his back.

"I don't know you tell me," Cardan wheezed, reaching for the water pitcher.

Judge's gaze swung to Vivi, who held up her hands in mock surrender.

"Why are you looking at me, I highly doubt the Dominos took the time to specifically poison our pizza," Vivi muttered. "Besides Oak's already scarfed down half of his slice and he's fine."

Everyone's gaze swung to the young boy who had sauce stained across his mouth.

"Is Cardan allergic to anything," Heather asked.

Cardan was confused.

"Allergic? What does that even-"

"Oh," Jude looked a bit sheepish. "Salt."

"You put salt in my food?" Cardan exclaimed accusingly. 

"Not on purpose! Well I mean yes on purpose because how else are you going to eat pizza without salt. It's in everything from the dough to the cheese."

"You mean to tell me that I can't eat pizza because there's salt in it?"

"Well... mortal food in general always uses salt," Heather supplied. "Unless it's dessert. Salt is what gives it flavor."

Cardan looks at the pizza pies in front of him with a mixture of disdain and sorrow. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so excited and disappointed in the span of half a minute.

He gingerly touched the inside of his cheek and winced.

"Let me take a look," Jude murmured.

She held his cheek in her palm as she surveyed the damage in his mouth.

"I don’t understand," Cardan said, his tongue hovering in his mouth so the syllables came out stretched and wonky. "Why are Vivi and Oak fine?"

"Maybe they've been conditioned? Vivi's been eating human food since she was born so she's probably built up a tolerance," Jude suggested.

"You know now that I think of it, Oak did used to get sick a lot at the beginning," Vivi said.

Then she snickered.

"I can't believe His Majesty, the High King of Elfhame got first degree burns from pizza."

She chuckled again and then took a big bite. Cardan glared at her.

"Wait I know what will help," Heather smiled brightly. "Cardan you also wanted to try ice cream right? That should help with the pain."

She pulled out a small cold tub of the aforementioned 'ice cream' and handed it Cardan with a spoon.

"There it's all yours."

'Homemade vanilla' was printed on the tub. Cardan looked at it warily.

"Are you sure this won't hurt?"

"What, are you scared?" Vivi teased.

Cardan sputtered no and glanced at Jude who made an expression that translated to 'well are you.'

"It's sweet, so I promise it won't burn. Look at the ingredient list," Heather said but there was slight hesitation in her voice. "Well, I'm 95% sure it won't burn."

"Try it Uncle Cardan," Oak said from his spot on the countertop, eyes glancing up from Vivi's phone.

Cardan looked at everyone in the kitchen, and was suddenly overcome with an emotion he couldn't name. Affection? Gratitude? Both? All he knew was that people had never taken an interest in sharing food with him before, and that made his heart squeeze strangely. Jude touched his arm reassuringly.

"Alright alright, I am no coward," Cardan said in his most authoritative voice, though it was undercut by how he attempted not to use his tongue while speaking. "I will try the ice cream."

Prying off the lid, he scooped out a spoonful of the pearly white dessert speckled with tiny seeds. As he brought the spoon to his mouth, he wondered what could possibly be sweeter than that moment in the kitchen.

**Author's Note:**

> While reading the books, I always wondered whether food in Faire was super bland because I doubt any amount of magical herbs and spices could make up for a lack of salt. Then I realized fae probably can't eat human food can they? And voila this drabble was born! Hope you enjoyed!


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